With the holiday season approaching, it’s a good time to teach children how to establish a tradition of doing small acts of kindness. Susan Johnston, professor of special education at the U, created a book to do just that. “The Gnome in Your Home – A Tradition of Kindness” is an illustrated children’s book and plush toy inspired by Johnston’s own family’s experiences as well as her professional work. The rhyming children’s book features a group of gnomes who plan to visit homes in order to teach children (and adults) how easy and fun it is to develop a tradition of daily acts of kindness. A plush gnome accompanies each book. Each evening, caregivers or parents simply choose an act of kindness card and place it in the gnome’s lap. When the gnome is discovered in the morning, families can plan and discuss that day’s act of kindness.
Susan Johnson | Phone: 801-440-3360 | Email: susan.johnston@utah.edu